Longtime NFL media host Mike Greenberg has been synonymous with NFL coverage, thanks in large part to his role on the hugely successful “Mike & Mike” show in the 2000s and 2010s. The ESPN veteran will host ESPN’s NFL Draft coverage, working alongside Mel Kiper Jr., Booger McFarland, Louis Riddick, Molly McGrath and Adam Schefter.
Revisiting Mike Greenberg’s Playing Days
Born in New York City, Mike Greenberg was an avid sports fan but did not play organized sports in high school or college. He attended Northwestern University, where he graduated from the Medill School of Journalism in 1989.
Mike Greenberg’s Career Path
His first role in sports came in Chicago, where he worked as a sports anchor and reporter at WMAQ-AM. He then joined WSCR-Radio as a reporter and talk show host. He also wrote a weekly syndicated column for the California-based Copley News Service and reported for SportsChannel Chicago. In 1995, he joined cable news station CLTV as an anchor, reporter and show host.
His long tenure at ESPN began in 1996 as one of the original hosts on ESPNEWS, a 24-hour rolling sports news channel. In 1999, ESPN executives pitched Greenberg the idea of a morning drive-time radio show with Mike Golic. He agreed, and the “Mike & Mike” sports talk radio show launched in 2000, running through 2017.
The show began a TV simulcast in 2004, and its success helped popularize the sports talk television format now common on ESPN, Fox Sports and NBC Sports.
While hosting “Mike & Mike” in the mornings, Greenberg stayed busy with other projects. He was a regular anchor on SportsCenter and also hosted the ABC game show “Duel.”
Eventually, the relationship between Greenberg and Golic soured, and the show ended in 2017. Greenberg was then moved to a new ESPN morning show, “Get Up!,” which he still hosts today. He also hosts an ESPN Radio show titled “Greeny.”
In both “Mike & Mike” and “Get Up!” segments, Greenberg has been vocal about his support for his favorite team, the New York Jets.
For his work in media, Greenberg was inducted into Northwestern’s Medill Hall of Achievement. Along with Mike Golic, he was also inducted into the National Association of Broadcasters’ Broadcasting Hall of Fame in 2016 and the National Radio Hall of Fame in 2018.
Mike Greenberg Is Also an Author
Greenberg has been a published author since 2007. His first book, “Why My Wife Thinks I’m an Idiot,” appeared on The New York Times bestseller list for five weeks and was nominated for a Quill Award. He and Golic also co-authored “Mike & Mike’s Rules for Sports and Life.”
He has also written two novels. The first, “All You Could Ask For,” became a New York Times bestseller. He published his second novel, “My Father’s Wives,” in 2015.
